Almost two years after an intensive e-commerce upgrade, Ulta Beauty is making steady progress toward its goal of reaching 10% of total sales via the Internet — a major milestone in the cosmetics segment.

RETAIL GUEST EXPERT SERIES

October’s mandated EMV roll-out raises critical questions about how far to go with POS upgrades. The easiest approach is a one-and-done patch migration – but focusing only on POS could be a huge mistake.

For success in omni-channel retailers have to deliver the right product at the right time, through multiple channels, at the best possible cost. This places all-new demands on stores as fulfillment and return points, and creates new pressures on distribution centers (DCs) to adapt their existing fulfillment and returns processes. Many retailers are meeting the challenge through manual work-arounds that are unsustainable. This three-part series will focus on how retailers can optimize and evolve manual processes, both in the DC and in-store, using Mobile Work Execution solutions.

Public healthcare reform has been among the major political debates of the past decade, and the U.S. government has taken recent steps to provide more coverage options for eligible Americans with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). For business leaders the current legislation outlined by the ACA has instituted health insurance requirements for workforces over a certain size, giving organizations additional rules to abide by in order to stay compliant and avoid fines.

Studies continue to show that positive employee engagement is a key factor in promoting sales growth, increased customer satisfaction, and reduced turnover. So why is it not a bigger priority for many companies?

TCF Company, a fast-growing regional retail chain, is facing a network dilemma. Most of its data and voice traffic comes through its suburban headquarters location, which also houses its data and call centers. Lower volume — but still critical — traffic traverses to and from its two distribution centers, while the 15 primary retail stores and 10 mall kiosks need to handle bandwidth spikes during peak shopping times.

FEATURED RETAIL SOLUTIONS PROVIDERS

UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a leading global provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. The company provides convenient, flexible solutions to help e-commerce customers enhance the online shopping experience.

Compliance Networks is a leading provider of solutions to the retail supply chain that enable enterprises to optimize flow within their supply chain and make informed decisions that ultimately increase shareholder value.

Established in 1972, Honeywell Scanning and Mobility is a leading manufacturer of data collection and communication products designed specifically for mobile, on-site, and transaction processing applications.

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

Why do SMRs compete on service? Because they have to. If you’re a small to midsize retailer, you probably can’t compete with the big boxes on product and price, but you can compete (and win) on service. Yet, service goes beyond the knowledgeable, friendly associate, a user-friendly e-commerce site, and call center known for its speedy problem solving capabilities. Immense amounts of valuable data are available to SMRs that can help them better understand their best customers and better understand why they’re unable to drive others to conversion.

Long Beach, CA was the sunny setting for this year’s NRF Protect 2015 Loss Prevention Conference & EXPO. Retail loss prevention and asset protection (AP) professionals gathered to learn about and combat today’s — and tomorrow’s — top security and safety concerns. From the significance of the Internet of Things (IoT) to cybercrime to return fraud to securing the supply chain, NRF Protect left no timely topic untouched.

When e-commerce really started to take off a few years back, it didn’t take cross-channel retailers long to realize the incredible value of the channel’s traceability. Behind the scenes, e-commerce site data—down to the click—was analyzed and scrutinized like a UFO at Area 51. Data scientists in lab coats crunched numbers and ran A/B tests under the watchful eyes of suit-clad executives, all unbeknownst to the customer. And thus, in a matter of months, the retail industry learned more about consumer demand patterns than it had in a hundred years.

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve been covering innovation in retail extensively over the past several months. That’s by design, and we have you, our dedicated readers, to thank. You’re in the throes of experiencing the retail’s industry’s evolution, and so are we.

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CURRENT RETAIL HEADLINES

7‑Eleven, Inc. (SEI), the world’s largest convenience retailer with 56,400 stores worldwide, has signed a master franchise agreement with Seven System Vietnam Co. Ltd. to develop and operate 7‑Eleven stores in Vietnam. The expansion marks the company’s first stake in the Pacific Rim since 7‑Eleven entered Indonesia in 2009.

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT

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MULTIMEDIA

Among all the facets of retailing, employee motivation is one of the most important and manageable factors for success and profitability. A disgruntled sales associate is unlikely to connect well with customers. Retailers looking to increase wallet share and drive desired behavior such as increased cross sell/up sell opportunities, improved customer service and customer retention rely on incentive comp plans and strategies.

Lucas Mobile Work Execution solutions make hands-on warehouse processes easier and better for workers, and give supervisors new tools to view and manage associate performance, balance work-in-process, and adjust operations to changing needs. The solutions help DCs adapt to new demands without changing WMS or host systems, improve associate productivity, and increase order and inventory accuracy. Beyond voice picking, this is the future of mobile work.

Today’s consumers move fluidly across shopping channels, from in-store to online over a laptop, mobile phone or tablet. And they want a consistent and relevant brand experience regardless of the channel. Yet the vast majority of transactions still take place in person, making the point of sale (POS) a vital piece of the customer experience.